


Projections on Tatooine

by BurnedStars777



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Banter, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghost(s), Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey Needs A Hug, Tatooine (Star Wars), Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Rey (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22095940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurnedStars777/pseuds/BurnedStars777
Summary: Rey learns the various ups and downs of having a Force ghost tag along with her wherever she goes.A lighthearted, feel-good, post-TROS fic featuring lots of banter and awkward life adjustments.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 120





	Projections on Tatooine

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a fun, light-hearted fic of Ben and Rey’s day to day lives via their connection. If you want a more serious take post-TROS, I recommend checking out my story “Be With You.”
> 
> I know a lot of people are debating whether or not Rey will live on Tatooine given it’s the final shot of the film and in the soundtrack it says “New Home,” but I also know Co-Writer Chris Terrio says that was not their intention and that Rey is only returning to bury the lightsabers because her family is the Resistance and she won’t leave them. My guess based on rumors was that they originally had Rey and Ben living on a green planet, but they changed the ending in post-production last minute, when John Williams had already named the scores. I’m not sure what to believe, but when I saw the film, I always thought it was the latter. I never once thought she would just stay on a desert planet because that makes no sense for her character. Even in TROS she looks around Ajan Kloss with a loving look because of how green it is. So yeah, even with the score title, you can’t convince me she is going to stay there. They just wanted to have an “homage-y” final shot to please people. (Rolls eyes.) Anyway, enough blabbing, on with the story.

“They’re looking at you.”

“No, they aren’t.”

“They _are.”_

“So, what if they are? It doesn’t bother me.”

“It bothers _me._ ”

“Did I ask if it bothered you?”

“…Well that’s rude.”

Rey tries to hide her smile as she meanders through the Tatooine bazaar. She’s run out of portions again; she’s been so caught up in making her new lightsaber that she doesn’t always remember to keep track of rations. It has been worth it though, to have her new weapon. The color of the blade, a soft yellow, had surprised her at first. Now it feels like the most fitting shade in the galaxy.

She selects a few breakfast portions from a stand, exchanging credits with the vendor, a large gray-scaled man with a generous throat patch. She can feel Ben looming over her shoulder, can practically feel him curling his lip.

“Blueberry?” he asks, his tone an indication that he’s mildly disgusted at the flavor of her choice.

“Well, you aren’t the one eating it are you?” Rey mutters back.

“What was that?” the vendor asks, his voice gruff with confusion and thinly veiled aggression. He fixes his seedy eyes on Rey, scanning her up and down, automatically suspicious.

“Nothing,” she responds, “this will do, thank you.”

The vendor grunts before turning away from her, losing interest now that he has her money. Rey starts to make the trek back the way she came, adjusting the hood of her tunic.

“You’re going to get me in trouble,” she tells Ben quietly, her headwear obscuring the movement of her lips.

“If we were on a _decent_ planet you wouldn’t have to worry about getting into trouble.”

Rey rolls her eyes, readjusting the grip on her satchel. The outpost is quite a bit closer to her shelter than the one on Jakku, but it’s still a very long walk. She’ll have to build herself a landspeeder soon. When she arrives home, she’s drenched in sweat and covered in sand, but overall, she’s satisfied with her haul. BB-8 greets her in the doorway, spinning around excitedly. Rey grins at the droid, patting the top of his head before following him inside. She places her satchel on the dining table and takes a whiff of herself before cringing.

“I’m in desperate need of a bath,” she says to herself. 

“I’m glad you’ve noticed.”

Rey lifts her hand lazily and, without looking, uses the Force to toss a chair at Ben. It phases right through him and hits the adjacent wall as expected, but it’s the principle of it. BB-8 gives a bewildered beep, having no idea as to why she would do such a thing.

Rey shakes her head at the droid. “Some things, BB-8, are not worth explaining.”

Rey prepares a basin of bath water for herself in another room, the liquid kept cool in the shade of the shelter. She removes her boots and sets her lightsaber down just outside the containment. Her fingers come up to her collar, sliding underneath the material of her tunic.

She pauses. “I don’t suppose I have to ask you not to peek.”

She hears Ben grunt somewhere in the background. “Childish,” he grumbles.

Rey undresses and eases herself into the basin, scrubbing the sand from her arms. She’ll have to go to the reserve and get more water soon. As she lathers soap over her shoulders, she glances around the empty room.

It’s funny. Sometimes Ben is just a voice or a feeling, sometimes he is practically flesh and blood, and other times he can be anywhere in between. Whatever form he takes though; Rey is comforted that his presence is a constant. She slips beneath the water to wash the soap from her face and neck.

“…Am I allowed to speak?”

Rey wipes her eyes and exhales from her nose as she emerges. “Nothing’s stopped you before now.”

“How long do you plan on staying here?” Ben questions, ignoring the barb.

Rey blinks the water from her eyes as they scan the vacant room, answering in all directions since she can’t pinpoint his location. “As long as I need to be.”

“Could you try and estimate?” he presses, his voice dry.

Rey sighs, running her hands over her legs. “Do you not like it here?”

“I wasn’t making that obvious? It’s a dead planet.”

“It’s where Luke once lived,” she points out, finally spotting Ben’s wavering form in the corner of the room. He sits on a beige, stone ledge, his face in profile to her, keeping his promise not to look.

“But it’s not where _you_ would’ve chosen,” he says. 

Rey can’t argue with that, but this isn’t about her. She has a responsibility to uphold, to walk the path Luke attempted to walk, to complete the goals he wasn’t able to. She wants to restore the Jedi by training the next generation of Force users. She just isn’t convinced that this isn’t the place to do it. 

But she can’t ignore his argument. If the circumstances were different, maybe she wouldn’t be here for so long on Tatooine. Sure, she is tired of desert planets, but it’s all she knows.

“If you had left Exogal with me, I probably wouldn’t be here,” she concedes, knowing he’ll just keep at her if she doesn’t.

She watches a deep frown form on his face. “If I had left Exogal with you, I would be imprisoned, or worse.”

“You don’t know that,” she says softly.

Ben is silent.

Rey sighs again, rising from the tub, water falling off of her and splashing gently into the basin. Her bare feet touch the ground, already accumulating some of the sand she has tracked inside. Such is the way of a desert dweller. She puts on her wrappings and dunks her dirty clothing into the basin, scrubbing thoroughly. Water continually drips down her body as she works, her skin prickling from the cold, desert, night air. She pins up her wet hair and takes her drenched clothing to the fire side to dry, grabbing her lightsaber on the way. Once she gets a fire going, she sits and wraps a thick blanket around her shoulders, smiling as she hears BB-8 rolling in another room. Her feet curl against the cold stone floor, and she reaches for her boots.

She is just sliding the second one onto her foot when she feels Ben sit on the bench beside her. The weight is off when he sits; the bench doesn’t creak quite the way it’s supposed to, another testament to the fact he not like the living. He emits no body heat, but nonetheless Rey feels warm from their connection.

Finally, she admits, “I’m afraid to leave. My connection to Luke and Leia is so strong here. I can’t help but wonder if this is the place where I’m supposed to rebuild the Jedi.”

“Who are you trying to appeal to?” Ben fixes her with a stern look. “There isn’t anything that you’re _supposed_ to do. You get to decide now, Rey. That’s the whole point.”

He hesitates for only a moment before he takes her hand. The outline of his skin glows a faint blue, the orange firelight not making any sort of impression. His fingers feel warm and rough and familiar.

“If you could go anywhere, where would you go?” he presses, his thumb pressing gently into the back of her hand.

Rey thinks for a long time, and then carefully replies, “There’s only one place I’ve ever thought of as home. It’s the place I’ve lived the longest, other than Jakku of course.”

Ben looks at her expectantly, and she smiles fondly.

“Ajan Kloss.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m thinking this COULD be a one-shot, but it depends on the feedback/demand for more chapters. I’m open to either. Let me know!


End file.
